Tuesday, December 15, 2015

THE PEOPLE'S PARTY

1892 People's Party campaign poster. James Weaver for President and James Field for Vice-President,

The Cortland Democrat, Friday, May 22,
1891.

THE PEOPLE'S
PARTY.

THE THIRD PARTY ADOPTS A PLATFORM AMID THE
WILDEST ENTHUSIASM.

Free and Unlimited Coinage of Silver—The Power to Make and Issue Money
the Sovereign Right of the
People—Down with National Banks as Banks of Issue —Ready for 1892.

CINCINNATI,
May 20.—It was no accident that the new party enthusiasts scored heavily in the
adoption of the report of the committee on rules.

The
Massachusetts delegation, which controlled the rules committee, fearing that the
platform committee's report would be adverse to immediate action for a third party,
conceived the idea of providing in the rules committee's report for a national committee,
and Delegate Brown, of the Bay State, in explaining the rules to the convention,
gave warning that the adoption of the report meant a new party, his idea being
that there could be no executive committee without a third party.

When the
convention reassembled a letter from L. L. Polk, which was read, advising this
conference to issue an address and defer action on a third party until 1892, caused
a breeze. A motion to refer it to the committee on resolutions was carried.

Mr. Fish,
Minnesota, argued that Polk's letter was ill-timed, and claimed that it showed
how useless it would be to refer the third party question to the meeting in
1892, at which Polk and his followers will be leading spirits.

Ignatius
Donnelly, chairman of the committee on resolutions, then climbed upon the
rostrum and caused a whirlwind of excitement by declaring that the committee on
platform was a unit for the organization of a third party. Two alternatives
were presented, he said, either to ignore a third party or divide the friends
of reform. He gave way to Robert Schilling, of Wisconsin, secretary of the
committee, who read the platform, as follows:

Your
committee on resolutions begs leave to submit the following:

First—That
in view of the great social, industrial and economical revolution now dawning
upon the civilized world and the new and living issues confronting the American people, we believe that the time has
arrived for a crystallization of the political reform forces of our country and the
formation of what should be known as the People's Party of the United States of
America.

Second—That
we most heartily endorse the demands of the platforms as adopted at St. Louis,
Mo., in 1889, of California in 1890, and Omaha, Neb., in 1891, by industrial organizations
there represented, summarized as follows:

a. The
right to make and issue money is a sovereign power to be maintained by the people
for the common benefit, hence we demand the abolition of national banks as banks
of issue, and as a substitute for national bank notes we demand that legal tender
treasury notes be issued in sufficient volume to transact the business of the country
on a cash basis, without damage or especial advantage to any class or calling; such
notes to be legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private, and such notes
when demanded by the people shall be loaned to them at not more than 2 per cent
per annum upon non-perishable products as indicated in the sub-treasury plan, and
also upon real estate with proper limitation upon the quantity of land and amount
of money.

b. We
demand the free and unlimited coinage of silver.

c. We
demand the passage of laws prohibiting alien ownership of land and that Congress
take prompt action to devise some plan to obtain all lands now owned by alien
and foreign syndicates, and that all land held by railroads and other
corporations, in excess of such as is actually used and needed by them, be
reclaimed by the government and held for actual settlers only.

d. Believing
the doctrine of equal rights to all and special privilege to none, we demand that
taxation (national, state or municipal) shall not be used to build up one interest
or class at the expense of another.

e. We
demand that all revenues (national, state or county) shall be limited to the necessary
expenses of the government economically and honestly administered.

f. We demand a just and equitable system
of graduated tax on incomes.

g. We
demand the most rigid, honest and just national control and supervision of the
measures of public communication and transportation and if this control and supervision
does not remove the abuses now existing, we demand the government ownership of
such means of communication.

h.
We demand the election of President, Vice President and United States Senators by
a direct vote of the people.

Third—That
we urge united action of all progressive organizations in attending the
conference called for February 22, 1892, by six of the leading reform organizations.

Fourth—That
a national central committee be appointed by this conference to be composed of
a chairman, to be elected by this body and of three members from each state represented,
to be named by each state delegation.

Fifth—Thatthis central committee
shall represent this body, attend the national conference on February 22, 1892,
and if possible unite with that and all other reform organizations there
assembled. If no satisfactory arrangement can be effected, this committee shall
call a national convention not later than June 1, 1892, for the purpose of
nominating candidates for President and Vice-President.

Sixth—That
the members of the central committee for each State where there is no independent
political organization, conduct an active system of political agitation in
their respective States.

Additional
resolutions, not a part of the platform, were presented. They recommend favorable
consideration of universal suffrage, demand treasury notes to pay soldiers equivalent
to coin, favor eight hours a day, and condemn the action of the World's Fair
commission with reference to wages.

The name
of the new party, the "People's Party of the United States," elicited
a magnificent outburst of applause and so frequently that the great hall seemed
to reverberate continuously. A recess was
then taken, after which the roll of names called for members of the national committee, three
members from each State being appointed, instead of one member, as inthe case of the old parties.

The
Alliance Congressman, J. G. Otis, of Kansas, nominated H. E. Taubeneck, of Illinois, as chairman of the national executive committee. There was a great outburst of cheers when Taubeneck's name was mentioned.

W. R.
Lamb, of Texas, seconded the nomination, saying he had watched Taubeneck's record
and was satisfied.

Taubeneck
was chosen by acclamation. Loud calls for Taubeneck brought that gentleman to
the rostrum, where he made a brief, but manly and modest speech, thanking the
delegates. He said: "Gentlemen, you see before you all that is left of the
celebrated Independent party in the Illinois legislature, so often called the Big Three." He added that he scarcely felt equal
to doing the position of chairman justice, but he would do the best he could, and
would rely upon the assistance of the other members of the committee. He said they
were standing on the brink of a conflict between capital and labor, and the longer
the conflict was postponed the worse it would be.

"Our
politicians," he said, "might as well try to stop a cyclone or the
movements of the stars, as to avoid this issue."

A few
moments of confused preparation of adjournment sine die ensued, then the
chairman's gavel fell, and the first convention of the People's Party of the
United States had passed into history.

To-night
it is reported that many members of the national reform organization, headed by
President W. W. Jones, of Illinois, have withdrawn from the People's Party because of the defeat of the prohibition resolution.

PAGE FOUR/EDITORIALS.

The Standard
of last week attempts to reply to an article published in the DEMOCRAT two weeks ago, charging that Mr. Clark
was endeavoring to give all the credit for the Normal School appropriation bill
becoming a law to Assemblyman Peck and Senator Hendricks, both Republicans, when
no one knew better than Mr. Clark, that almost the entire credit belonged to
Mr. Hugh Duffey, of this place. The Standard says that the DEMOCRAT "plainly
suggests" that "His Excellency" (Gov. Hill) "at first
proposed to kill the bill in order to hit Mr. Peck, but was finally persuaded
to lay aside personal and political spite and do a perfectly just and proper
act through the influence of Mr. Duffey." There is not a word in the
article, published in the DEMOCRAT, that could possibly be tortured into any
such meaning. We expressly said that the Governor "was opposed to every
bill making large appropriations," and this was the only ground for his
opposition. The idea that Gov. Hill would load his howitzer to fire at so small
a mark as Peck presents is preposterous. On the 2d of Apr. the Standard did
give Mr. Duffey and Mr. Fitzgerald credit for assisting in the work of putting
the bill through, but that was when the bill was not yet out of the woods. In
its issue of May 7th, however, when the bill had become a law, it published a
long article giving almost the entire credit to Peck and Hendricks, naming them
particularly, and in a general way giving "others'' credit for doing what
they could. If the editor of the Standard is not endeavoring to make
political capital out of his wholesale claims it certainly looks that way.

In
commenting upon the action of the authorities in New York with reference to
their prosecution of the "boodle aldermen" in that city, the Binghamton
Republicanis moved to say:

"The
course of the boodler cases illustrates the ebb and flow of public sentiment. If
Judge Marline had remained District Attorney of New York, or if Nicoll had been
elected to succeed him, and prosecute while public sentiment against
corporation thieves was at its ebb tide, most or all of the boodlers would have
been convicted and punished with Jaehne. The boodlers and boodle influences saw
after the conviction of Jaehne and the trial of Sharp, that they must place
delays in the way of justice until the tide of public sentiment flowed out.
They succeeded, and all the untried boodlers escaped.

It was
the same with the Tweed gang. Tweed, like Sharp, was prosecuted in the heat of
public indignation, and died in custody; but the rest of his gang escaped, and
after the high tide of public sentiment flowed out they returned to New York to
live, blessed with the respect of their neighbors and the public generally, as
well as by an abundance of wealth."

Comparisons
are said to be odious but we cannot under existing circumstances, refrain from
calling the Republican's attention to the fact, that in 1875 one Samuel J.
Tilden, then Governor of this State, discovered the fact that the State
treasury had been robbed of millions of dollars by a ring of canal contractors
and that he immediately began an investigation which resulted in showing that
one J. J. Belden of Syracuse, was one of the principals of the ring, the
members of which had become rich by reason of the State's losses.

The proof
was positive and the wickedness of the scheme was just as clearly proven. After
a long and tedious legal fight, however, the members of the ring managed to get
out of the scrape, and save a large amount of their ill-gotten gains. Time had allayed
the excitement of the people and justice went awry. Every delay that could be
devised by able counsel was interposed "until the tide of public sentiment
flowed out." Two or three years later, and "after the high tide of
public sentiment flowed out," Jim Belden returned to Syracuse to live, not
only "blessed with the respect of his neighbors and the public generally,
as well as by an abundance of wealth," but he was twice honored by being
nominated and elected by the Republicans to the office of mayor of Syracuse. Since
that he has been three times nominated and elected to represent this district
in Congress by the Republican party.

Tweed,
the Democrat, was tried and convicted and died in jail. Belden, the Republican,
is honored by his party and is elected to look after their interest in
Congress. It would seem as if there might be some food for thought in this
comparison even though it be odious.

James J. Belden

William "Boss" Tweed.

Hon. James J. Belden has offered to erect in
Syracuse a building for a public library at a cost of $150,000, to be donated
to the city. The city will doubtless accept the donation with thanks. William M.
Tweed gave the poor people of New York $50,000 worth of coal one cold winter,
and Republican papers said he was entitled to no credit for doing so, because he
had first robbed the taxpayers of the money. Republican papers are now praising
the generosity of Mr. Belden. It is gratifying to know that after many days the
people are to come by a trifle of their own, even if they have nothing to say
as to how that little shall be expended. It may be of benefit to somebody.